The University of New Mexico (UNM) is currently funded under Section 736 for Programs of Excellence in Health Professions Education for Underrepresented Minority Individuals. The most recent award runs through September, 2005, with a three-year renewal proposal pending and expected to be funded. UNM is an eligible applicant for an NCMHD Endowment S21 Capacity Building Award. The UNM has the only medical school in New Mexico. There is no school of public health in the state. In its most recent Strategic Plan, the Dean of the School of Medicine has reaffirmed as a priority the School's commitment to address chronic health problems and persistent disparities among its racial and ethnic minority and lower income populations. To address these issues, the Dean has created a new Institute for Public Health to coordinate, promote, and enhance school-wide research directed toward this end. The Endowment will support this effort of the Institute. The Endowment will be placed within the University of New Mexico Foundation, which exists principally to manage the University's endowment funds. The Endowment's corpus will be maintained permanently. Income from the Endowment is estimated to average 5% of the corpus per fiscal year. Income distributions will be managed through the Institute for Public Health to support research directed at health disparities, identifying, describing, analyzing, and understanding disparities among under represented minority populations, particularly in its Hispanic and Native American populations, and evaluating interventions designed to reduce disparities. Endowment earnings will support core administrative and research infrastructures, pilot projects for junior faculty to prepare for research related to health disparities, student research projects, and assistance for faculty preparing proposals for fully developed research projects.